Tuesday, June 14, 2011

So apparently it was Monkey's birthday in Missouri! Which was quite a surprise, since we are still one week out from that exciting day. But Missouri is a strange land, and we headed out to the T-Rex Cafe to celebrate dino-style. Monkey loved it, although the sheer size of the dinosaurs was a little intimidating. He was very concerned about the Apatosaurus pair next to our table, and roundly rejected my explanation that there were robots inside of them. We did talk about herbivores and eating plants a great deal, though.After dinner, we headed downstairs to the obligatory retail space to Build-A-Dino, which apparently is a very rare breed of the popular Build-A-Bear stores. A Triceratops was selected, and Monkey really loved putting the heart inside, filling him with 'snow', giving him a kiss before his 'operation', and most especially, washing him. He was named Tank, after one of our favorite dinos. A good time was had by all, and Monkey had a really excellent Missouri birthday. He especially loved the clapping! So much love for the clapping, really. And the 'Rawr'ing.

Friday, June 10, 2011

Monkey has been very interested in princesses and fairy tales and monsters lately. Here is his version of bedtime for Aunt M and Uncle A. I was unprepared for the first story, but here it is in all its complexity:

The second story is more complete (naturally) and concludes our bedtime activities for the evening:

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Today Aunt M and Uncle A decided the zookeeper needed some R&R. So the zookeeper was set up with nail polish, face mask and magazine and left alone in the apartment. Meanwhile, Monkey and Aunt M went to explore the new City, it seemed fitting to check out the local Children's Museum. It wasn't as big as our usual museum but lots of fun was had. We spent time in the museum checking out the music room, water room, lego room, painting our own faces and playing with trains in the halls then went out for a big lunch. After so much fun a snooze was required, so on the way home we went.

So, after Aunt M and Uncle A got married, they moved to Kansas City. Since Mrs. Z does not have summer classes Monkey and Mrs. Z packed up and drove all that way to spend a few days with Aunt M while Uncle A finishes his training at his fancy new job. Monkey actually did really well on the big drive (10 hours door to door - his first big drive without a friend in the backseat to keep him company) but only slept a SINGLE HOUR of the trip that began at 4:30 a.m.

Charming all the grandmas at Bob Evans: Playing with the 'spitting froggies' with Uncle A:

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

We're more than a little out of date and out of order around here, but we are endeavoring to catch up. To make the rest of this week's posts make sense, we have to time travel backward a little bit. Last month Aunt M married Uncle A and Monkey was the intrepid ring bearer. This was a little more complicated than his last ring bearing gig in October for Uncle M and Aunt A* since Redheaded Cousin R was carrying some flowers at the same time and he actually got to pull a train. On the other hand, it was outside, not as formal, and the aisle was shorter. So. It went very well. Our dear friend Katie Landes was the photographer for day, and she did a fantastic job getting pictures of Monkey and RHCR (and all those other people too).

*Ha! Just try keeping this all straight when there are tiny tuxedos involved!

Monday, June 6, 2011

The Zoo was recently improved by the addition of a new patio. Monkey was an integral part of the demolition and construction process, frequently asking 'the guys' about their tools and providing very close supervision. The patio is nearly finished, it needs to be acid washed and then sealed at which point we may provide an update photo. ;)